A man accused of murdering a former captain of St. Mary’s Rugby Club told Gardai he started punching him until he admitted raping a friend of his.
Gary Walsh of Ravensdale in Kimmage denies it was over an inheritance his alleged victim had received.
During his first Garda interview, Gary Walsh said he spent most of Feb 8th 2014 drinking at a flat in Terenure with Cathal Sweeney and Colm Campbell.
Colm had invited Cathal over to watch Ireland play Wales in the Six Nations and Mr. Walsh had stayed in the flat the night before after having an argument with his girlfriend.
He admits beating Mr. Sweeney up. When asked why, he said it was because he kept denying raping a friend of his. He said he punched him six or seven times until he admitted it, but didn’t mean to kill him and did everything he could to help him.
Colm Campbell gave his version of events from the stand today. He said he couldn’t remember how the row started, but found the two men in a bedroom where the accused was demanding money from Mr. Sweeney. He said he saw him hit his friend up to 20 times with “considerable force”.
Gary Walsh has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder, so ultimately the jury will be left to decide whether he intended to kill.
